In many ways, Gopinath Munde was asort of misfit in the Bharatiya Janata Party. True, he had long innings in the party and had begun his socio-political activities when he was a student. His activism and ability to reach out was noticed by senior RSS leaders and he was inducted in the Sangh. He had worked for the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad and had generated buzz in the student community. But he was a kind of his own self, even Bohemian in his style and politics for him was as much a mission as also enjoyment. It was not as if he aspired for any big position or career in the party.

Indeed, if he was not introduced by Pramod Mahajan to the politics of skullduggery and electoral mass mobilisation, he would not have acquired the stature he did. But Mahajan, who was the brother-in -law of Munde, was different in many ways. Munde came into his own and partly out of the shadow of his brother-inlaw in 1994-95 when he decided to take on Sharad Pawar, who was the chief minister of Maharashtra. There was no Sonia Gandhi on the political horizon and Pawar was his own boss in Congress, certainly in Maharashtra. Pawar had as many (if not more) followers in the opposition as in Congress. To socialists, he was a darling. And he had a kind of personal bond with Pramod Mahajan. Yet Munde chose Pawar as his target.

The only medium worth any impact then was newspapers butmost of the Marathi press were enamoured by 'Pawar power'. But Munde decided to launch a campaign against the Pawar-led government. His focus was corruption and alleged underhand land deals of Pawar. Munde's campaign was called Sangharsh Yatra, a crusade against the state government. He literally campaigned (like Modi did in this election, but without media blitzkrieg) all over the state. Initially, the support was lukewarm, but Munde continued and he began to galvanize support in all parts of the state. Slowly, the press (the only media really) had to take notice of the crusader. The fact is, had Munde not tilled the land, it would not have been possible for the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance to come to power in 1995. This was three years before the BJP-led NDA came to power in Delhi.

Shiv Sena was the rabble rousing party in the state. BJP still was considered a middle classupper caste party. Shiv Sena had a mass base and BJP had 'class base'. The division of seats always went in favour of the Sena and hence it won more seats than BJP. Whichever partner won more seats was to get chief minsitership. So Sena's Manohar Joshi became the chief minister and Munde became his deputy. The alliance worked despite hurdles as Congress was weak. The bridge between Shiv Sena and BJP was Pramod Mahajan. So Munde was like an understudy.

As elections for 1996 Lok Sabha approached, it was clear that the Congress government led by Narasimha Rao would lose. The destruction of the Babri Masjid had generated a considerable saffron wave. Congress lost, paving way to 13-day government led by Vajpayee to be followed by Deve Gowda and Inder Kumar Gujral. Inevitably, those governments collapsed and enabled BJP-led NDA to come to power in 1998. It was in this atmosphere Mahajan began to work inside and outside the party vigorously. His stock in Maharashtra grew, along with that of Munde.

Though the Sena-BJP alliance lost in Maharashtra in 1999, BJP had emerged as a force and was in power in Delhi. Mahajan and Munde were a team in the state. Munde had shown that individually he had the ability to win mass support. Being Vanzara, an OBC community, helped. BJP was trying to overcome the handicap of a Brahminical face of the party. But Munde had transcended his appeal beyond his communityby carving out an image as a fighter. He understood that having reached the level of a deputy chief minister in a state dominated by the Marathas (mainly from Western Maharashtra), with right moves he could become chief minister. It was truly possible because there was a BJP-led government at the Centre. But Munde never wore his ambition on his sleeve. He did not mind remaining an understudy of Mahajan.

Mahajan was ambitious, aggressive and audacious. He used to openly declare that his goal was to become prime minister. He had set the target year 2014, and that too when BJP was defeated in 2004. The defeat was a personal setback for Mahajan, because the "Shining India" campaign was his idea. Advancing the poll by six months too was essentially his idea. He had enough clout in the party to convince his party's high command that victory was sure. Though he acknowledged defeat, he was not demoralised. He was about 55 and felt that by the time he crossed 60, he would emerge a PM candidate. Narendra Modi was not seen as a challenger, even a competitor.

But fate had its way and Munde was a almost a political orphan after Mahajan was killed. His party began to sideline him and on several occasions Munde thought of leaving it in frustration and even joining Congress. Fate intervened twice more: First to give him real hope and place in the party and almost make him the CM candidate and then to take away his life. Once he was orphaned by his party. Now his party has been orphaned.